Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma St.: Texas Bowl keys to victory

With running backs in short supply at Texas A&M, expect Isaiah Spiller to get plenty of totes against Oklahoma State during Friday's Texas Bowl.

Photo: Bob Levey, Stringer / Getty Images

Brent Zwerneman shares what to watch for in Friday evening's Texas Bowl between Texas A&M and Oklahoma State at NRG Stadium:

Aggies' keys to victory

1. Isaiah Spiller is A&M’s lone scholarship running back, and he’ll carry the load — the Aggies just need to make sure they don’t overload him (his season high was 24 carries against South Carolina).

2. Defensive tackle Jayden Peevy must have a monster game in the absence of Justin Madubuike (NFL draft, skipping bowl), as the Aggies try and slow the NCAA’s leading rusher in Chuba Hubbard.

3. Short memories are keys for the Aggies — even if their last game was nearly a month ago. It was a doozy — a 43-point loss at SEC West rival LSU.

Cowboys' keys to victory

1. The Cowboys intend to run Chuba Hubbard left, Hubbard right and Hubbard up the middle. He leads the NCAA with 1,936 rushing yards, and Mike Gundy is smart enough to repeatedly return to that well.

2. The OSU secondary will need to step up in the absence of safety Kolby Harvell-Peel (injury), who leads the Cowboys with five interceptions — or nearly half of the defense’s dozen interceptions this season.

3. Quarterback Spencer Sanders will need to regain his accuracy after returning from a right (throwing hand) thumb injury that sidelined him the final two games of the regular season. If not, backup Dru Brown might see plenty of action.

Brent Zwerneman is a staff writer for the Houston Chronicle covering Texas A&M athletics. He is a graduate of Oak Ridge High School and Sam Houston State University, where he played baseball.

Brent is the author of four published books about Texas A&M, three related to A&M athletics. He’s a four-time winner of APSE National Top 10 writing awards for the San Antonio Express-News, including a second-place finish for breaking the Dennis Franchione “secret newsletter” scandal in 2007.

His coverage of Texas A&M’s move to the SEC from the Big 12 also netted a third-place finish nationally in 2012. Brent met his wife, KBTX-TV news anchor Crystal Galny, in the Dixie Chicken before an A&M-Texas Tech football game in 2002, and the couple has three children: Will, Zoe and Brady.